Wednesday, October 4, 2017

So, most of you know this is pretty much my heart. Following Jesus. Loving my family. Taking care of my home. And fitness + food + a healthy lifestyle. I LOVE to teach ladies some of what my mentors have taught me and some of what I’ve learned through the years. I have it on my “My 75” board to find someone to mentor, and I still plan to do that, but I really love this platform of being able to do this with multiple ladies at one time! There is power in numbers, right? I am so excited that we are going to go through this book together (short chapters so it’s not too overwhelming) for a study of Proverbs 31 with the goal of helping us “do life better” in the areas that matter most.

We have LOTS of other fun things planned & a topical calendar where we’ll share healthy lifestyle tips, our favorite books, some challenges, meal prep tips, etc. over these 31 days…but most importantly, our goal is to grow in our faith as we study the Word of God and our specific calling as ladies.

We’ll have daily live videos and share resources in our FB group JUST for this group, and you’ll get to hear from me and these two beauties whom I greatly respect and admire.

(You can feel free to invite your friends to join you too. Just request to join & we’ll get ya added.)

I know life can be overwhelming. I know the enemy wants us to feel discouraged, defeated, & isolated. But it doesn’t have to be that way! I believe John 10:10 and Ephesians 3:20…that God wants us to have an abundant life! And that can only come through keeping our priorities in order. So we hope to help navigate some of that. (Not that we have it all figured out, but we are each going to share in our areas of strength.)

We’d love for you to join us!

It may or may not be for you, but I wanted to invite you in case you’ve been looking for some encouragement and a specific “plan” to help you become more disciplined in your faith walk.

Weight/Height: Beau weighed 15 lbs & 15 oz and was 27” at his 6 month checkup. Dr. G told me to think about introducing cereal for some iron and to put some weight on him. (He is double his birth weight though & growing well on his curve though.)

Health: He has sensitive skin like his brothers and I feel like he always has some little rash somewhere. Right now it’s under his neck.

He’s cutting his first tooth! His front two bottom teeth are both budding up and the right one has officially broken through (as of 9/1).

We give liquid vit D drops every day (that I remember).

Grateful for our healthy, growing boy!

Sleep: Whew! We had a doozie of a couple of weeks….thankful to be over that hump. Still waking up during the night (out of habit- I know it’s “time”) but he will give me a solid 5-6 hours and is taking an awesome morning nap! He’s a tummy sleeper, still using sleep sack, and we have a fan/white noise/air purifier blowing to drown out noise. Pro: Blocks out the big bros. Con: now we are used to sleeping with it and it’s tough to sleep without that noise (like when we travel). He’s still in our room…mostly because we are still renting and it’s not our normal living situation.

Special thanks to NaeNae for holding our sweet boy for us while I took the big boys swimming with friends.

Stayed awake our whole ride to the mountains, then fell asleep as soon as we pulled into town! #gofigure

What Beau is up to: Big boy is officially CRAWLING! He can scoot all over the place so we really have to watch him now & be careful what big bros leave out so he doesn’t put tiny treasures in his mouth. He is so active and always on the move! He can also push himself almost into a sitting up position from being on his tummy!!

His new things is to rub his hands together- Jase says he’s doing a magic trick. It’s so cute!

Also learning to eat! We started BLW a few weeks ago (right after he turned 6 months). So far he has had bananas, apples, broccoli, green beans, squash, zuchinni, avocado, sweet potatoes, chicken, hamburger meat, peaches, bread w/peanut butter, eggs, and steak. He’s doing really well! We don’t introduce more than one new food at a time to make sure he doesn’t have an allergy. I forgot how nerve wrecking it can be in the beginning. This post was a helpful refresher:

I also have to remember to check his mouth to make sure he’s not squirreling away food. I’ve caught him 3 times with something in his cheeks or the roof of his mouth.

I still wear him when we’re out and about. I wish I had my carriers that don’t kill my back now that he’s getting so big (they’re packed up somewhere in storage), but grateful to my friend Renee for letting me borrow hers!

Sweet boy LOVVVVES all of his family!

Nursing: Going great! He definitely has a favorite side, but I still think he is getting plenty. I only pump when we need a bottle for something. We have a few events coming up so I need to start storing a little more.

Post-Partum: I FINALLY found a natural deoderant to keep up with my weird post-partum sweat. (I’ve always been a sweater, but it never was really smelly until after this pregnancy.Gross!) #gonative

I’m still about 5 lbs away from pre-preg weight, but my clothes fit so that’s what I care about most. And I feel like I am physically in really good shape strength and endurance wise.

I’m excited to be in a church where our faith is really being challenged and stretched, and also looking forward to kicking back up BSF. Love the consistency and accountability of being in the Word.

SO READY to find a house & had a little pity party about it a couple days this week (mostly questioning/regretting), but overall I know we are beyond BLESSED and I just need to focus on our many, many blessings.

Big Brothers Jase & Kade: The boys are seriously SO sweet with baby Beau! I love, love, love watching them together! They love to hold him (and ask to) and talk to him in their cute little baby voices. (It’s like they have their own little language.) Jase is very protective of him (when he’s eating he’ll tell people not to bother him because he might get distracted and get choked) and Kade is so gentle with him too. Beau thinks they are both hilarious! Kade still likes for me to hold him too, so sometimes I’ll hold them both. Full hands = full heart.

Thoughts: Going from 2-3 has been the biggest transition for us so far. It hasn’t been “hard,” really, but it has been a different kind of work figuring out logistics. Who sleeps where on vacation? Who puts who to bed? Who goes down first? What car seats go where? Who do I strap in first? Where do I put the baby while I’m changing Kade’s diaper when we are out and about? Just little things. But goodness gracious, we already can’t imagine life without our Baby Beau!! He has the sweetest, gummiest smile and most precious little voice (that he just found). He is cuddly and loving and just flat out makes me happy. I am so grateful he is a part of this family and I am loving watching him grow!!